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My meditation room

As some of you have read in other threads, I have moved to a new home. While this is a larger-than-average house for France, it would be considered small by American standards. Since I work at home, I needed something with enough room for my office space, and wanted to be comfortable in my work. (In my previous house, my office was a bedroom, that really wasn't big enough.)

To get a house that size, I had to get one with three bedrooms, which means that I have a small bedroom, upstairs, that I have dedicated to use as a "sitting room." I have two tatamis - a bit threadbare - and a bookcase with my dharma books in the room. I will probably not add anything else, though there's space for, say, a few bookcases if needed. I may add a Buddha statue if I can find one that I like, and I'd like to find a bell to ring before I sit (though I don't even know where to look for that).

Not only does having a small room like this make it easier for me to sit, but I can also use it for relaxation - going into the semi-supine position (cf Alexander technique) on the tatamis. (What you can't see in the photo is that the wall to the left is white; two walls are white, and two are beige.)

So far, I still haven't emptied all my boxes, but I've been able to sit at least once a day, since that room is devoid of the mess in the rest of the house. Well, the mess in my head is still there, of course...

Re: My meditation room

Mine's also spare bedroom. I have an inkin bell, but when sitting by myself, I use an MP3 player with a 30-minute recording I made.

Besides housing guests (our zendo has limited residential capacity for retreats), the room can also be set up with a massage table, and the closet doors are mirrored for Florije's belly dancing practice; my tea-things are displayed on my tea-shelf. While the room's dedicated to zazen, it does other things, too. Kind of like my life.

Re: My meditation room

The screen is to look at when you sit?

Yes. There was a time during a previous marriage that I couldn't have a dedicated place to sit, so it had to be portable. While that's no longer the case, I've become quite used to it; although unnecessary now, it's comfortable. Tabula rasa.

Re: My meditation room

Interesting. Where I lived before, I didn't have any easily accessible wall that was empty. Now I do, in my sitting room, but it's got stucco on it, which is "interesting" - ie, the eye is attracted to the bits that protrude and make shadows. Perhaps I should get something like that to sit in front of.